


A softer world

by nonbinaryglory



Category: Endgame Series - James Frey & Nils Johnson-Shelton
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Normal Life, Anxiety, Canon Mute Character, Character(s) of Color, F/M, First Meetings, Mushy, Nobody is Dead, may add more characters and stuff later who knows, no endgame au, what to tag idk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-09-12 18:07:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9083491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonbinaryglory/pseuds/nonbinaryglory
Summary: In a world without endgame, nobody has to die at their hands.





	

He didn't go out often. People would look at him and his ticks would get worse and his skin would burn until he got away from them. But it had gotten better somehow, easier to ignore them and stay calm. Medication, he figured. The medication helped him, calmed him, softened the sharpest edges of the world. His skin still burned if there were too many people and his mind screamed at him to _get away get away GET AWAY FROM THEM, THIS IS DANGEROUS._ Until he gave in. Ran or power-walked to somewhere safe. A public bathroom stall, a fairly empty shop, an arcade hall. Music shut them out, people and thoughts. Safe as long as he had music in is ears and didn't stutter and twitch too much when he talked to people.

He had forgotten his headphones. Left them on the subway somehow, it didn't matter how. All that mattered was that he forgot, forgot forgot forgot. _Stupid fucking idiot_ how could he forget. People bumped into him on the way to- he didn't know where he was going. _A shop a shop, any kind of shop as long as it doesn't have so many people in them._ Lost his headphones on the subway in Japan, he didn't even know the place. Shouldn't have moved. Should've stayed in China, in his hometown, the place he knew better than his stupid messy mind.

A candle shop. Family driven by the looks of it. Takeda. A bell rung loudly as he opened the door, he jumped. _Ha ha, so on edge._ The shop was so quiet he swear that he could hear his own heartbeat. Light footsteps approached from the left and he jumped again. _Ha ha, not funny._ A japanese girl around his age stood before him and bowed slightly before signing something with her hands, paying no mind to his twitching.  _Should've learned sign language... in japanese.._  He knew sign language in english, american sign language that is, and mandarin, not japanese.

"I'm sorry, miss. I don't know Japanese sign language" he signed back in english, hoping to whatever gods around him that she knew american sign language and that he hadn't somehow insulted her. That would be just his luck. His hands shook and his head twitched. But to his surprise, she was not angry in the slightest. In fact, she smiled gently at him and started signing to him again.

"You can speak if you wish, sir. I am mute, not deaf. You look very anxious. Would you like some tea to help you calm down?"

An incredible warm calm spread through him and his skin felt like it was on fire, burning but... not bad, good actually. He didn't trust himself not to stand there for 10 minutes trying to get the words out so with shaking hands he signed to her

"Thank you, I would like that."

**Author's Note:**

> *deep breath*  
> I AM ALIVE WHADDUP ENDGAME FANDOM


End file.
